Cannes Lions
JWT BRAZIL, Sao Paulo / CONECTAS / 2013
Overview
Entries
Credits
Description
Brazil's congress has recently picked, to head the chamber of Human Rights, a homophobic and racist congressman. Conectas, a human rights NGO wanted to raise awareness to this wrong. Conectas asked the agency to do so in a different way, a way that could stir the public opinion and light up the conversation of same sex equality and equal rights in Brazil. An NGO that fights for human rights is one that cannot stand still when there's a racist leading the Human Rights Chamber in congress.
Execution
Thus, we contacted Laerte, one of the most famous cartoonists in Brazil and open cross dresser. He has a comic strip on Folha de São Paulo, the biggest newspaper in Brazil. It was suggested to him that he contact all of the other authors of the comic strips of the newspaper and asked them to have a whole page kissing manifestation. And that's how more than 700,000 readers found their favorite cartoon characters: french kissing each other.
Outcome
Within minutes of the newspaper hitting the news stand, it became news. Hundreds of people started to Tweet the newspaper comic page, share the page on Facebook. It became news even on rival newspapers. Within hours, thousands of people started to share drawings of themselves kissing the comics.
At the end of the day, thousands of people met on a public space in São Paulo to celebrate love and fight intolerance in a meeting presided by Laerte.
The morning kisses led by the comic strips sparked the fight for equal rights. And have become a loud ammunition against hatred. The results are loud and clear. There are over 10.000 shares on Facebook. Thousands of people have made comic versions of themselves kissing the comics and posting, tweeting, sharing. It has become the lead topic on social networks in Brazil. And the conversation about human rights has taken centre stage.
Love fighting hate has turned to be the best way to change public perception on this cause. And the kissing keep coming.